On the First Day of Christmas
by PepperjackCandy
Summary: On the first day of Christmas, Lex's true love extends the proverbial olive branch. Clark/Lex Slash (of course :grinning:)


Title: On the First Day of Christmas . . .  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex   
Category: Futurefic  
Spoilers for: Stray, I guess, for the existence of Julian Luthor.   
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics.   
  
Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net.   
  
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December 26, 2077  
  
Lex stood on the balcony of his penthouse atop the LexCorp building. The multicolored Christmas lights below him formed a sort of upside-down aurora borealis at this height, and he was savoring the moment when he heard the light thump of booted feet in the snow.   
  
There was only one person, one being, that would dare show up unannounced like this, "Superman," he said without looking.  
  
"I really wish you wouldn't call me that."  
  
This came as a surprise. Lex was expecting the usual stiff-upper-lip, macho act that his erstwhile lover had been playing for more than fifty years. "What would you prefer? Mr. El?"  
  
"How about Clark?"  
  
"Clark Kent is dead to me."  
  
"Clark Kent is dead. Period."  
  
This brought Lex up short again, making him grit his teeth. "What?"  
  
"Eleven years after retiring to his isolated Wyoming home, Clark Kent died peacefully in his sleep, at the age of ninety-one."  
  
"And I suppose all of Mr. Kent's worldly goods went to some worthy charity?"  
  
"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It was the closest he could come to make restitution for Julian."  
  
"Too little, too late, alien." He looked up at Superman for the first time. He wondered why the flinch that the alien so ruthlessly repressed effected him so strongly. "You took him from me and you can never get him back."  
  
"I had nothing to do with Julian's abduction, and you know it."   
"Well, one of your . . . kind," he snarled the word, "did it."  
  
"That's like blaming all cardiologists for the failure of your mother's doctor."  
  
Lex looked at him steadily.  
  
"Oh." Superman said as realization dawned that Lex did, in fact, blame all cardiologists for Lillian Luthor's death.  
  
They were silent for a moment. "I'll be going, then."  
  
Superman turned to go, but was stopped by Lex's voice. "Don't go."  
  
When Superman paused, Lex continued, "I have something to show you." Without another word, Lex led Superman into the penthouse.  
  
He led the superhero into a darkened room with a bassinet in the corner. By the faint light coming through the blinds that had been drawn over the window, Superman could see a baby in the bed.  
  
"We won't be making the formal announcement about his birth until tomorrow. This is Julian Luthor. The Second." He added for clarification. "I'll call him Lee for short, just like my parents would have called my brother."  
  
"How did you manage this? When was he born?"  
  
"He was born this evening. His mother is a woman very dear to my heart named Adina Velasquez."  
  
"How did you get the incoming dean of Metropolis University's microbiology department to bear your child?"  
  
"You wound me, Superman. You say that like you doubt my attractiveness."  
  
"I've never doubted your attractiveness. Or your persuasiveness."  
  
Lex smiled. "Let's just say that not all of her paperwork was in order. In exchange for this little favor, I straightened it all out for her."  
  
Superman was actually slightly shocked, not by the fact that Lex took advantage of Dr. Velasquez, but that Dr. Velasquez got something out of the deal. Perhaps Lex wanted to turn over a new leaf? "Why now? You haven't aged a day since we met, so I can't believe you're feeling your mortality."  
  
"Maybe a part of me wants to let go of old grudges, too. Maybe Lee here is my way of saying I want to start over." Lex looked at Superman significantly.  
  
It wasn't the new beginning he'd hoped for -- there was a lot more kissing in his version -- but it was *a* beginning, and Superman let himself feel just the barest glimmer of hope when Lex said, "Let's go downstairs and I'll make us some coffee. Kal."   
  
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A/N: This may well be the first of many fics in which Julian didn't die but rather was abducted by aliens. I once wracked my brain for a way that "our" Lex could ever end up referring to Clark derisively as "the alien," and bearing a grudge against him in the place of the aliens who took Julian away was the only reasonable explanation I could come up with.  



End file.
